Adventure Therapy

Our Adventure Therapy program is designed to provide our students with well-rounded, meaningful learning opportunities through outdoor recreation, experiential education and community service and events. We create a culture that fosters the development of strong, positive identities among young women. As they develop and learn alongside one another, they form trusting, caring relationships that can be sustained for a lifetime.

Each week our students participate in an experiential education group that brings therapeutic concepts to life. Experiential groups focus on DBT concepts, social skills, leadership, emotional regulation and relationships. Lessons are then integrated into weekly off campus activities, community service and adventure camping trips to provide a context for students to apply these skills in real life settings.

Western North Carolina provides a magnificent and challenging outdoor classroom. Our adventure therapy programming provides opportunity to gain proficiency in a wide range of outdoor recreation skills including rock climbing, canoeing and kayaking, white water rafting, stand-up paddle boarding, hiking, biking and camping. Through these skills, girls with anxiety overcome their struggles while involved in these recreational activities.

Every quarter, our students, some of them girls with anxiety, participate in an overnight adventure camping trip, providing opportunity to apply the outdoor skills they learn and to challenge the individual and team in a setting that may be outside their comfort zone. Outdoor challenges provide an excellent medium for building self-esteem and strong relationships. Our goal is that our students leave Solstice East with healthy, life-long interests and skills.

Additionally, our students explore a wide range of cultural and leisure activities, attending art classes led by local artists, and other community events.

Volunteering and community service is a significant component of our adventure therapy program. Our students participate in community service each week volunteering at community farms and gardens, planning activities for the elderly, working with our local humane society, and helping to maintain and beautify our campus. Volunteering and community service provides an opportunity for the girls to look outside themselves and to give back to the local community.

Our intention is to create an environment where our students learn through experience and gain insight and skills that can be applied to their daily lives. As they are continually challenged in multiple realms, our girls gain a stronger understanding of themselves as individuals while strengthening relationships.

Meet the Team

Name:

Leslie Rosenberg, M.A.T.

Title

Adventure Therapy Director

Leslie loves adventure and the deep learning that comes from direct experience. Leslie has been working with young people since…